Back From Holiday

[poliphilo]

I've done too much- way, way too much. The things I've done too much of include climbing mountains and eating really wonderful food. I don't get many holidays, and when I do I hate to waste a moment of my time. I'm pretty crocked up- aching all over and with what I think is a mild chest infection-  but I don't regret a thing.

Sorry, I should have said I was going away. I had sort of hoped that the place we were going to would have had a wifi connection- and I'd have been able to keep in touch.  It didn't. There was an internet cafe in the village, but it only opened in the afternoons and my afternoons were far too precious to be spent in front of a screen.

Our nephew, Matt, works at CERN. Ruth- his mother- wanted to pay him a visit- and very generously took Ailz and me along as her travel companions. We stayed at Duingt- a village on the Lac d'Annecy, in France, but right up against the Swiss border, in the department of Haute-Savoie.  It took us two days to get there. From Manchester to Ashford by car, from Ashford to Paris by train, across Paris in a taxi, from Paris to Annecy by train.

Let me say at this point just how much I hate luggage. Luggage is fine for the rich. For the not so rich it's a ball and chain. Next time we travel abroad I swear we're going to limit ourselves to a small back-pack each- and anything we can't carry we'll buy and then abandon en route.

It was dark when we arrived so we couldn't see what we were getting into. We picked up our hire car from Hertz and drove from Annecy to Duingt.  Our appartment, which we'd been told was easy to access, had two flights of outside stairs- and some nasty, twisty uneven stairs inside as well. We grumbled a bit . And next morning we woke, opened the windows- and when we looked to the left we saw this.... 



and when we looked to the right we saw this.

 

Here are Ruth and Ailz- still in their night clothes- looking out and going "wow!"

Comments

[huskyteer.livejournal.com]

Ohh, it looks lovely! Makes me long for summer and travelling.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Lots more to come...:)

[pondhopper.livejournal.com]

That is spectacular. I'm sorry about the steps, though. I suppose the view made up for it a bit?
:)

I agree about the luggage. We're fairly light travelers these days.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Yes. If we hadn't been so high up we wouldn't have had quite such a spectacular view.

[wlotus.livejournal.com]

Oh my. What a view that is!

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

It was amazing to wake up to it on the first morning.

[veronica-milvus.livejournal.com]

I wondered where you had been! Looks like a beautiful place - although I might have chosen to go when it was warmer! What news of the Higgs boson?

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

It was a lot warmer than Oldham. We took lots of woolies and gloves and things- and didn't need them.

Matt says they aren't likely to detect the Higgs boson for a year or two yet.

[ideealisme.livejournal.com]

Hurrah! It's lovely to escape for a while.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

It certainly is. Also hard work!

[clindau.livejournal.com]

I love arriving somewhere after dark and throwing open the curtains next morning to a stunning view.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Yes, indeed!

[heleninwales.livejournal.com]

I've just been looking at all your photos. What beautiful scenery! It's nice to get away somewhere completely different every so often and it sounds like you had a good time.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

One of the things about mountains is they're continually changing.

The Lac de Annecy is wonderfully beautiful. There's a campaign underway for the whole area to be accorded World Heritage status.